Tissue Paper Prison

December 5, 2011

“Man, they worked me so hard today that I don’t even feel like escaping,” Ethan grumbled.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s the idea.” I looked outside the window and watched as another Rocky slammed into us. “I’d like to become a snake and try to find Hannah, but with the weather like this, I’d freeze before I got too far.”

Ethan laid back on the cold floor boards of what might have once been a tool shack. Outside a brace of Darcarre circled around the small building that had become our prison. I could have punched through the thin walls, but then I would have only found myself trapped within the storm. Sure I could escape, but where would that leave Hannah? Not to mention the hundreds of possessed people that were forced to be Edgar’s slaves.

I couldn’t attack without pause either; for as soon as I made it through a dozen Darcarre, I should I would be confronted with the sight of Hannah with a dagger pressed against her throat.

“So are we going to try anything tonight, boss?”

“No, I don’t think we can. I just wish we could see Hannah and know that she’s okay. Besides you know that the Darcarre are probably listening to everything we are saying. They have the best sensory perception of any race of Xemmoni.”

“Oh yeah. Why did you say that out loud then?” Ethan asked as, despite the cold, he started to drift off.

“They know I know about them. So, hey Edgar, if you are listening, I’m going to shove that crown down your throat when we find it.”

“Feel better?”

“Not really, but I do have a reputation to maintain.”

Ethan chuckled and then rolled over onto his side. He heated a few floor boards with his hands and it provided some radiant heat, but did little to cut the building cold.

I stood staring out into the mix of white and black. White and Black. Good and Evil. The Darcarre worshipped the darkness, while the snow was natural and revitalized the Rocky Mountains, which were the backbone ofAmerica. It might suck for us, but the snow was natural, good, and honest. And the Darcarre were anything but.

Edgar wasn’t the only person that had incarnations of himself on other worlds. I knew I did too. Why it happened to me, I had no idea, but somehow I’d become mixed up with Vile Darken’s deadly game. He wanted to control the Multi-verse and freaks like Edgar were given the power to try to make sure this came to pass.

The real question will be should I put on this crown if I get the chance? It could open up huge new doorways of understanding for me. Edgar said it would increase his power, and if this is so, it could certainly do the same for me. However, Loskeep had told me what had happened to Vile when he was granted assess to the consciousness of all his incarnations—He went completely mad. Would the same happen to me?

Shaking my head, did little to clear it. Why was I worried about all this, when Hannah’s safety should be my chief concern? Still, we had to think of a way out of this and anything that could give me an advantage and help save hundreds of lives might be worth it.

Ethan had started to snore and despite my aching muscles, I knew my torn mind wouldn’t be letting me join him. My eyes gazed back out the window as the rough mountain pass became blanketed in snow.